In the Media

Prof. Emeritus David Thorburn speaks with Washington Post reporter Laura Bradley about the rise of a new type of female detective archetype in TV crime shows. “Though the women who populate the crime dramas of today are notably contemporary, they share a key characteristic with their literary forebears — a nebulous relationship with law enforcement,” Bradley writes.  “There’s a long tradition of a certain kind of detective being at odds with the cops,” says Thorburn. “It goes back to Sherlock Holmes, who always mocked the London police and kept exposing them.” 

Prof. Vipin Narang speaks with New York Times reporter David E. Sanger about the “use of nuclear weapons as the ultimate bargaining chip.” Narang explains: “A nuclear threshold is not determined by words, but by the deterrence balance and stakes, and changes to declaratory doctrine do not at all change the deterrence balance between the U.S., NATO and Russia.”

Prof. Daron Acemoglu and Prof. Simon Johnson, recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, join Boston Public Radio to discuss their research examining the role of institutions in creating shared prosperity. “For the longer-term health of the U.S. economy,” says Acemoglu, “there’s probably nothing more important than its institutions. If any president, any politician, any party damages those institutions, that’s the first thing we should focus on.” Johnson adds: “Democracy has to deliver on shared prosperity. Otherwise people get very annoyed and they question the system.”

WCVB reporter Jessica Brown spotlights how researchers from the MIT AgeLab explored the most effective way to communicate with elderly individuals about driver retirement. The researchers found that “35% of older drivers are more likely to listen to a spouse who asks them to give up the keys,” explains Brown. 

Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo have been named 2025 Rhodes Scholars, report Brian P. D. Hannon and John Hanna for the Associated Press. Undergraduate student David Oluigbo, one of the four honorees, has “volunteered at a brain research institute and the National Institutes of Health, researching artificial intelligence in health care while also serving as an emergency medical technician,” write Hannon and Hanna.

Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights the newest cohort of Rhodes Scholars, which includes Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo from MIT. Nietzel notes that Oluigbo has “published numerous peer-reviewed articles and conducts research on applying artificial intelligence to complex medical problems and systemic healthcare challenges.” 

Prof. Benjamin Weiss, director of the MIT Paleomagnetism Lab, speaks with Forbes reporter Bruce Dorminey about the use of paleomagnetism to track the geographic origins of stromatolites. Weiss notes that he and his colleagues published a paper examining the magnetization of stromatolites in the Strelley Pool Chert in Australia’s Pilbara region. The team’s measurements show that these stromatolites formed within 8 degrees latitude of the equator, Weiss explains. 

Research from the Data Provenance Initiative, led by MIT researchers, has “found that many web sources used for training AI models have restricted their data, leading to a rapid decline in accessible information,” reports Gary Drenik for Forbes. 

David Zipper, a senior fellow at the Mobility Initative, writes for Fast Company about the future of the electric vehicle market. “With EVs comprising less than one in ten new car purchases, most Americans are still forming their impressions and figuring out how to evaluate them,” writes Zipper. “It remains to be seen whether they’ll ultimately care most about range, engine power, or something else entirely.” 

Researchers at MIT have developed a new AI model capable of assessing a patient’s risk of pancreatic cancer, reports Erez Meltzer for Forbes. “The model could potentially expand the group of patients who can benefit from early pancreatic cancer screening from 10% to 35%,” explains Meltzer. “These kinds of predictive capabilities open new avenues for preventive care.” 

TSP Smart Spaces, a home automation company founded by Michael Oh '95 has been named to Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston Home 2025 list, reports Jaci Conry, Cheryl Fention, Marni Elyse Katz, Angela Athena Mats, and Stefanie Schwalb for Boston Magazine. TSP Smart Spaces uses “the ideal technology solutions while simultaneously making the user experience simple, comprehensive, and value-driven ensures even the most tech-hesitant homeowner feels automatically savvy,” they write. 

Prof. Jon Gruber speaks with former Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety and Security Andrea Cabral and GBH Boston Public Radio host Margery Eagan about the future of health care in the United States. 

MIT has been named the No. 1 university on the 2025 Global University Employability Rankings, reports Times of Higher Education. “MIT students, faculty members and alumni play key roles in entrepreneurial innovations, including developing advanced computer networks, securing venture capital transactions and advancing biotechnology,” writes Times Higher Education. 

Arago, an AI startup co-founded by alumnus Nicolas Muller, has been named to the Future 40 list by Station F, which selects “the 40 most promising startups,” reports Romain Dillet for TechCrunch. Arago is “working on new AI-focused chips that use optical technology at the chipset level to speed up operations,” explains Dillet.

Neural Magic, an AI optimization startup co-founded by Prof. Nir Shavit and former Research Scientist Alex Matveev, aims to “process AI workloads on processors and GPUs at speeds equivalent to specialized AI chips,” reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “By running models on off-the-shelf processors, which usually have more available memory, the company’s software can realize these performance gains,” explains Wiggers.